Bradford City: Graham Alexander on SK Vorwärts Steyr game.

CITY is ready to up the ante with their players for tonight’s game in Austria. The Bantams will conclude their training camp in the Alps with another friendly against local club SK Vorwärts Steyr. Graham Alexander has limited the squad to a maximum 45-minute run-out in the first two warm-up games.

However, he believes it is past time that they be given more time. “We’re probably going to extend it a little bit,” he told me. “We did that last year and will probably give some players 60 or 75 minutes. “We’ll see what our numbers are and how the players are doing today, and then we’ll go from there.

“We need to extend them a little bit more, but it’s possible they’ll play 45 minutes each and then we’ll do some fitness work. We’re at a stadium that isn’t our responsibility, so groundsmen don’t always enjoy working on the pitch after the game! “But by the time we’ve played the Oldham game, we’re hoping we’ve got good minutes into all the boys and they are in a good shape.”

Calum Kavanagh on the chase in last year’s encounter (Image: Thomas Gadd)

The squad is eager for proper action after a week of four sessions per day at the Obertraun base. Alexander understands their desire to return to the pitch, but he believes the tactical work instilled by the coaching staff has been invaluable. “You need the game.

It’s been a long week, and here is the carrot. “It’s just part of the process to build up minutes, resilience, and tactical ideas. “It’s been great to have players fully engaged here. The tactical aspect has been critical for us this week.

“We’ve analysed our training sessions, the game last week, and simply put in the work on the pitch to become more fluid as a team and achieve the speed of play we prefer.

“We want it to come naturally, so players don’t have to look where their teammates are. However, you must practise it repeatedly. “We can see progress every day. We tried to stay on topic and really get the ideas down. “We had an 11-on-11 game on Tuesday, and both teams demonstrated high quality in terms of how we want to play. You can see it.

“When you know what you’re doing before you get the ball, the game moves faster, making it more difficult for the opponent. That is what we are attempting to create. City were scheduled to face SK Ried II, whom they defeated 2-1 last year. However, the opponent changed yesterday, and they will now face SK Vorwärts Steyr.

The game, which begins at 6.30 p.m. English time, will be played at USC Abersee, 25 miles from the training base. Alexander stated, “We believe the players may have missed something by playing a game on a pitch they had been training on for five or six days.”

“I believe we missed out on the unique experience of going to a stadium and being in a different changing room. That’s why we decided to play in a stadium again, as we did when we first came over. “We have never been to this location before, so it will be a new experience for us.

It’s a small venue, but they always take good care of us here. “We’re not sure how old some of their players will be. But after the gruelling week our players have had here, whoever you play will be a tough match.”

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk